title: Why should a deformed, anaesthetic, functionless hand be wanted?
abstract: A 58-year-old woman presented at a disability assessment tribunal with a severely deformed left forearm. She had broken the arm 25 years previously and the infected open fracture had not healed. There were no sensory or motor functions in the hand, which the patient kept constantly hidden in her garments. The question of an amputation was raised and the advantages of modern prosthetics with respect to cosmesis and function failed to convince the patient that she might benefit from such surgery. One questions why a patient should want to retain this cumbersome, obviously embarrassing, burden and whether the question of surgery should have been raised.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Rehabilitation, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heim
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Oppenheim
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Margalit
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Azaria
mesh_terms: D000671:Amputation, Surgical / Q000523:psychology; D001828:Body Image; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005260:Female; D006227:Hand Deformities, Acquired / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D016312:Treatment Refusal / Q000523:psychology*